s- and p-wave neutron spectroscopy. Xe. Intermediate structure in 90Y and the generalized R-matrix theory

The resonance structure observed in the ⁸⁹Y(n, n)⁸⁹Y total cross section measurements in the range of 0.3 to 1.2 MeV incident energy was investigated using the generalized R-matrix theory of nuclear reactions and the doorway interpretation of intermediate structure. The energies and wave functions of the doorway resonances were calculated in a 2-particle and 3p-1h basis of the shell model. The model space and the parameters of the model calculation chosen were consistent with other shell model calculations in the mass-90 region. Several strong p-wave doorways with J^π = 0⁺, 1⁺, and 2⁺ were predicted by the model in the energy range studied. This is due to proximity of p-wave giant resonance. The escape widths Γ^↑ and the spreading widths Γ^↓ for these states were evaluated using the model wave functions and the R-matrix formalism. The calculated energy dependence of the total cross section shows that most of the predicted doorways are in general agreement with the observed anamolies with similar relative strength. More significantly, the underlying p-wave gross structure representing a grand average is of very similar shape in both theory and experiment. As expected in the mass 90-region, the s- and d-wave doorways contribute less significantly to the calculated resonance structure.